Conscious Evolution Series I

Capacity Being Cultivated: Receptivity

Before one can begin tending the “garden of the heart” - the inner landscape that is our true self from which everything else arises - they must first become capable of seeing what is already growing within it. This first stage is not concerned with controlling thoughts, suppressing desires, forcing concentration, or even beginning with prayer. It is about cultivating something far more fundamental: the quiet willingness to become present enough to notice what is already taking place within one’s own interior world. Paying attention and becoming aware.

For many people, this is more difficult than it initially sounds. We spend much of our lives moving from one distraction to the next, filling every silence with conversation, music, entertainment, work, or the endless stream of information flooding our modern societies. Yet beneath all of that activity, the “garden” continues to grow.

Thoughts arise, emotions gather, desires lean toward action, memories resurface, and subtle dispositions or tendencies quietly take root whether we notice them or not. The goal of this first exercise is not to change any of these things, but simply to witness them - become aware. This will be a common theme in this reading if you haven’t already begun to notice. Additionally, I am using gardening metaphors in this series with much intention and purpose.

Once each day, choose a place where you can remain undisturbed for a single minute. Set a timer, put aside every distraction, and allow yourself to simply be present. There is no need to focus on and control your breathing, empty your mind, achieve a state of calmness, or attempt to have any particular spiritual experience. The exercise is not about producing a different state of consciousness, but about becoming aware of the one that already exists. Just paying attention; becoming aware.

As you sit quietly, quietly ask yourself a single question:

What is ALREADY happening within me?

Perhaps you notice impatience, or discover that the same Artic Monkeys melody has been looping through your head for the past hour. You may become aware of a subtle restlessness in the body, an almost automatic impulse to reach for your phone and check on your ex ;) or a lingering sadness that has been quietly accompanying you beneath the surface of the day. Probably also related to that ex, not gonna lie. Another possibility is that nothing particularly remarkable may seem to happen at all. That, too, is part of the observation.

The goal is not to judge, analyze, or immediately change whatever appears, but to recognize that every thought, emotion, sensation, and inclination forms part of the present landscape of the garden. Whether the soil contains flowers or weeds is, for now, beside the point. Before anything can be cultivated, it must first be seen.

When the minute has passed, conclude the exercise with a single inward acknowledgment:

“This is what is growing in the garden right now.”

And that’s it. That’s all that needs to be practiced in order to become familiar with what awareness is and how it can be used to shine a light on the parts of ourselves that are usually hidden in the dark. This, of course, is just the first step in a multi-step process. But this first step, although seemingly simple, is the soil upon which we will plant future seeds. Become aware of it. (Garden metaphors are so apt, I giggle often).

You cannot tend what you cannot perceive.

Now go and look up what the word tend means ❤️